


Something New

by noblydonedonnanoble



Category: Fright Night (2011), The Office (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Prostitution, Alternate Universe - Victorian, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 09:19:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3062402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noblydonedonnanoble/pseuds/noblydonedonnanoble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nellie’s first Christmas in the brothel, she was absolutely stunned by the number of blokes who tore themselves away from their families during the holidays.</p><p>Written for the Tatennant Secret Santa of 2014</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something New

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dreamerbee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamerbee/gifts).



                Nellie’s first Christmas in the brothel, she was absolutely stunned by the number of blokes who tore themselves away from their families during the holidays. After all, she reasoned, aren’t the holidays supposed to be a time for enjoying the company of loved ones?

                It’s no longer a surprise. When Christmas rolls along, she expects the place to fill to the brim; she expects to have an outrageous number of clients clamoring for her attention; she expects late hours (later than usual).

                She certainly does not expect some bloke to chat her up at the bar all of Christmas Eve and then leave before he bothers to pay her for anything. Bloody waste of an evening. All she gets out of it is a couple of drinks.

                By the time he leaves, all of the other customers are accounted for. So Nellie heaves a sigh and strolls across the room, pulling up a seat at the piano to watch Peter play.

                “Isn’t it a bit early?” he asks immediately, his eyes still trained on the music before him.

                Nellie huffs. “Some bloke spent half the night with me at the bar. He wouldn’t let me go off to someone else but he turned down all of my suggestions that we go upstairs. And he just said he’d changed his mind and left.”

                “Oh, right, I see. He’s one of those.”

                “One of what?”

                Peter glances over at her with a chuckle. “Comes in looking to flirt, to be flirted with… mostly to be flirted with. But doesn’t hang about for the grand finale since then he’ll have to remember it was insincere. Well,” he qualifies, after a thoughtful pause. “ _You_ were insincere. _He_ wasn’t.”

                “Notice this happening a lot, do you?”

                “I do. Happens to Sarah the most; I think she likes to expect the best of them. You’re usually rather good at turning them down. Or making them reconsider how they’d like to end the evening.”

                At this, Peter smirks, and although he’s still looking very pointedly at his music, Nellie can’t shake the feeling he’s aware of every little movement she makes. So she tries to stifle the shiver that runs down her spine.

                There’s something about Peter’s crass comments that always unnerves her, and she hates that. After all, she’s not some high-class blushing virgin, and Peter’s never explicit; he just hints. But somehow his little hints leave her feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable.

                Fucking strange men for money makes Nellie feel less self-conscious than those little hints do.

                The song that Peter’s playing comes to an end, and he seems to hesitate for some moments before clearing his throat casually. “Hey, Nell?”

                Still somewhat lost in her own thoughts, she jumps at the question. “Yes?”

                “Would you come with me for a minute?”

                Nellie blinks at him. “Why?”

                “Because I asked you to,” he responds, sounding petulant and verging on whiny. “It won’t take long, I promise.”

                She can’t help her skepticism, but she also can’t deny that Peter looks perfectly earnest in his request. “Well, alright then,” she agrees.

                He grins and immediately jumps to his feet, pulling the cover over the piano keys before beginning to weave his way through the room. He heads toward the door that leads to the private portion of the brothel, which houses the kitchen and the living quarters.

                When Peter stops outside of his own room and gestures that she go inside, Nellie gives him a look. “Nan told you never to bring any of us into your room,” she scolds him.

                “For fuck’s sake, Nell, I’m not going to try anything. I just want to talk privately for a moment, she’ll never know.”

                She hesitates, struggling to imagine what he might want to discuss privately with her.

                “Just for a moment,” she allows, stepping in front of him into the room.

                It’s smaller than the rooms that most of the girls sleep in, although it makes sense since most of them share with at least one other person, and Peter’s got the space to himself. Nellie cannot help being a bit curious about the few decorations, particularly when she notices a photograph of a man and a woman that sits beside his bed. Very few girls have much of anything to remember their family by, let alone a real portrait.

                “Is that your mum and dad?” Nellie murmurs, gesturing toward the photograph.

                Peter, who is busy rummaging around in his chest, doesn’t even bother to look back. “Yes, they sat for that portrait about three months before they died. It was their in honor of their fifteenth wedding anniversary.”

                “Oh.” She’d had no idea; he never spoke of his life before he came to play piano at the brothel. “I’m… I’m sorry to hear that.”

                He immediately brushes it off. “I assure you that I’ve had plenty of time to become accustomed to the idea.”

                “Yes, but even so…” Nellie trails off as Peter returns to his full height and turns to face her, holding a small rectangular box in his hands. “Oh, you did not buy a Christmas gift for me.”

                Peter flushes deeply and holds it out to her. “Yes, I did. Please take it.”

                She can’t help but feel touched by his effort, as well as the fact that he seems to be genuinely anxious that she won’t like it. She wonders briefly whether or not he got gifts for any of the other girls, but either way, his answer would leave her pondering several other questions that she’d rather just ignore.

                Nellie accepts the box before she can think better of it. And when she opens it, brushes aside the covering of tissue paper, her eyes widen. “Peter…”

                “I don’t profess to know much about jewelry,” he rushes to say. “But I was walking past a shop and those were in the window and I thought that maybe you could wear them with that lovely green dress you’ve got...”

                “The one with the low neckline—”

                “—and all of that lace,” Peter adds eagerly.

                “Yes, you’re quite right. That would look beautiful.”

                She examines the jewelry more closely while Peter shifts from foot to foot before her. Although all of the girls have collections of necklaces, bracelets and earrings, they very rarely have occasions to shop for any new jewelry; the money that they don’t spend on rent and food tends to go towards the purchase or making of new dresses. Jewelry is simply too expensive.

                And at that thought, Nellie exclaims, “You must have paid a fortune for these. A necklace and matching earrings, Peter… you shouldn’t have.”

                Half the time they don’t even like each other, but here he probably spent well over a month’s wages just for this gift.

                “I wanted to. I know we don’t… we’re not always on the best of terms, but…” He hesitates, at a loss for how to continue.

                But Nellie thinks she knows what he means. She nods apprehensively. “Yeah. I, um… thank you.”

                She edges closer and wraps her arms around him, and Peter is so startled that he stands there dumbfounded for a few seconds before reciprocating the hug.

                “I haven’t got anything for you,” she murmurs into his shoulder.

                “That’s not why I did it.”

                Nellie can feel her eyes beginning to water. She can’t remember the last time someone did something for her with no expectation for something in return.

                “Thank you, Peter.” She stands up on her tiptoes and presses a quick kiss to his scruff-covered cheek.

                A few more moments pass, and then Peter says carefully, “Nell? I should, uh, probably get back in there.”

                “Oh, yes, of course.” She extracts herself from his arms immediately and looks away while she quickly wipes at her eyes. “Wouldn’t want you to get caught off the job.”

                “Wouldn’t want you to get caught in here.”

                They both chuckle, albeit a little cautiously.

                 Nellie rushes to tuck the box away in her room, and when she emerges and rejoins Peter at the piano, they chat, and they laugh. It is as though nothing has happened. 


End file.
